


The Lights Above the Arby's

by hoogwoorts



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, They're basically just being really cute, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-07 00:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5437334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoogwoorts/pseuds/hoogwoorts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos. Beautiful, perfect Carlos always came to that same terrible coffee shop at the same time on Thursdays. Cecil could not take his eyes off of him.</p><p>Cecil. Strange, wonderful Cecil who made incredible videos and always came to that same terrible coffee shop at the same time on Thursdays. Carlos could not take his eyes off of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lights Above the Arby's

**Author's Note:**

> My first Welcome to Night Vale fanfic. I'm not even close to caught up and it's kind of been a while since I listened to it, but it was really nice to write!

Perhaps essays were actually invented by a mysterious and quite malicious dolphin who wrote ideas and put them into bottles to wash up on the shore, where humans who received them thought they were undoubtedly important messages that must be upheld. Or else. It seemed a more reasonable explanation than someone willingly making the decision to waste hours writing down information in the perfect form and organization. Cecil decided that this must be the case, and quickly pulled out a small, leather-bound notebook, dyed purple with a stylized eye printed on the center. He opened to the next page and jotted down his realization. This would be the subject of his next video.

Not that he was supposed to be pondering such ideas at the current moment. In front of him, he had his laptop set open to a word document where the ever meticulous marker line that showed where to type next blinked on, and off. On, and off. Notes and printed out articles were strewn about, for Cecil to look off of as he wrote. If only that dolphin could have been stopped, Cecil would not be slave to this essay that would not be written, even if he stared extra hard. All students that actually received a 4.0 in their gradebook averages had the ability to allow their essays to write themselves. It was a psychic gift scrupulously hidden by the government. This subject had already been covered in one of Cecil’s previous YouTube videos.

Cecil had situated himself in a small coffee shop in the corner of campus that happened to be near to his first class on Thursdays. The coffee served there was mediocre at best, and there was one of far better quality near the center of campus, so Cecil’s little escape was rarely overpopulated. It made an ideal location for him to serve the nefarious purposes of an ancient dolphin.

Another rather important benefit to sitting in this little shop was a certain college student who also tended to visit around this time to get a cup of coffee (assuming that is actually what this shop sells. Who can really say for certain?). Cecil highly doubted he would ever have the confidence to initiate conversation with this beautiful, beautiful man, yet Cecil had fallen hard into the habit of visiting this coffee shop ever since he had discovered that specimen who frequented it.

Presently, as Cecil’s concentration on his essay was rapidly fading into the void of the universe, a bell jingled merrily as the door opened and closed. Inconspicuously, Cecil allowed his eyes to drift upward, but quickly glanced back down as he beheld the unearthly beauty of the person for whom he had developed an addiction to low-quality caffeine.

Carlos had a gorgeous smile, with teeth as white as a freshly sterilized hospital operating room. His naturally warm aura reminded Cecil of a good, loving friend, or perhaps a long lost lover from a previous time period who had been sent by the mysterious powers of evergreen grass to be reunited with his one true love. Their story written in the stars, only by the best tired art students from the angel realm. Yes, that was what Carlos reminded Cecil of.

But by far the most striking future of that gorgeous, lovely man, was his absolutely perfect hair. It has been theorized by many notable scholars that every sonnet Shakespeare wrote was, in fact, actually about Carlos’s hair. This is, of course, true, and consistent with the theory that Carlos has traveled through time with the help of life’s least understood mysteries.

His voice rang out through the nearly empty coffee shop as he ordered. The words “a plain cup of coffee, please,” sounded sweeter and smoother than honey running through a pool of molasses and melted butter. By this point, Cecil had been watching his computer screen without typing, reading, or doing anything other than paying absolute attention to Carlos with every sense other than his sight. Sight was by far the weakest sense, after all. Cecil was quite sure he could feel and appreciate Carlos’s beauty even without laying eyes on him directly, a skill on which Cecil had quite a habit of relying.

Alas, while all of Cecil’s concentration may have been on Carlos as he slowly closed and packed his computer and put away his notes to leave for his class, he could not quite sense exactly where in the room Carlos happened to be at that particular moment. As Cecil stood abruptly, and quite lost in his introspection on the phenomenon that was Carlos, he stumbled slightly and found himself knocking into someone warm and solid.

Very hot liquid splashed onto Cecil’s neck and shoulder and shocked him back into reality.

“Oh I’m so sorry! Very, very sorry, here let me help clean you up… I wasn’t expecting you to move!” Carlos, _the_ Carlos, had bumped right into Cecil, making this the first physical and verbal contact they had had. Cecil was almost shocked into paralysis, but the stickiness on his skin and clothing was enough to remind him that he ought to clean himself off…

That was when perfect Carlos began to apply a paper tower directly to Cecil, which was quite certainly the best experience Cecil had had in his lifetime. Carlos’s hands were as gentle as they looked. There was no doubt about it anymore; Carlos was a superior being to humans, angels, and charitable politicians.

“It’s fine, I assure you, I’m alright.” Cecil finally managed to say. It was important that he not let Carlos think Cecil was the slightest bit angry for the honor of being caressed by a drink that had touched the perfect lips of Carlos.

At this moment, as Cecil was most likely about as clean as he was going to get, Carlos stopped and actually turned toward Cecil, a perfect, humble smile on his face.

“I really am sorry, though. It’s Cecil, right?” Somehow, Carlos knew Cecil’s name. The reason Cecil had had the privilege of learning Carlos’s name was because they shared one English class together, but Cecil had not thought that someone as amazing as Carlos would pay attention. Then again, as Carlos was perfect in every way, perhaps this should have been expected.

“Yes, that is my name.” Oh why could Cecil not thinking of something suitably inspiring and intriguing to say, thereby immediately capturing Carlos’s attention?

“Oh, you make those YouTube videos, right? I thought it might be you, but I couldn't be sure.” Carlos knew Cecil’s videos? Could this be real, or was this all an elaborate dream? Was anything truly real, though? Even if this was only a dream, why should that give it any less value than an occurrence in real life, especially since no one can be sure that real life is actually real?

“I do make those videos, yes. Have you… watched them?” Cecil was so excited, he was talking to Carlos! And Carlos seemed to know about his YouTube videos, which meant that Carlos had acknowledged him back! What an exciting day!

“Yes, I love them! Your inquiries are fascinating and unrestrained by society’s structure and assumptions. Your videos are an inspiration to me, scientifically!” Carlos was beaming brighter than a car’s headlights would seem right before an inevitable car crash, and he was saying such lovely things. Cecil could hardly contain himself.

“Thank you, I do try.” Cecil responded, feeling his own wide-eyed smile crossing his face.

“Perhaps we can meet up sometime to discuss it further? I am sorry if this seems too forward but I have always wanted to ask you about them, but I’ve been a bit too shy…” Carlos?! Shy to talk to Cecil?! “And I can buy you a coffee to make up for spilling mine all over you, sorry again about that.” Carlos gave Cecil a beautiful, kind smile. “What do you say?”

Even though it had been Carlos who had lost his coffee, he was offering to buy coffee for Cecil, and even more importantly, he was offering the incredible gift that would be his company. Cecil did not have the earthly ability in him to refuse. “I- I would love to.” His voice sounded a little more high-pitched than usual.

“Excellent, let me give you my number and we can arrange it. Fantastic!” Carlos held out a hand and Cecil’s fingers fumbled around in his pocket to extract his phone. As he watched those beautiful, slim fingers tapping in Carlos’s invaluable number, Cecil again could hardly believe what was happening.

“Now I do have a class to get to, but I will see you soon, then?” Carlos said warmly, handing back the phone.

“Yes, see you soon.” Cecil watched Carlos stride out of the coffee shop, the phone containing Carlos’s number feeling twice as heavy as before. Lovely, perfect Carlos had seen and loved Cecil’s videos, and this was only now registering fully. And, they had a date! Well, not an actual date, really. But it was about as close to a date as squirrels were to actual animals.

But wait, Cecil had to text Carlos, as only Cecil had Carlos’s number. What should he say? It had to be the perfect text, of course. Cecil was still making his first impression on Carlos, and he could not afford to let Carlos down with only a mediocre message.

_“This is Cecil. I look forward to meeting with you.”_

Cecil stared down at the message he had typed, trying to decide if it was sufficient. No, it would not do. It sounded so formal and contrived.

_“This is Cecil. I look forward to meeting with you. :)”_

Now that was more like it, Cecil decided. A smiley emoji was perfect to communicate Cecil’s true feelings on the matter. Not that it was enough to dazzle Carlos, necessarily, but hopefully it would at least leave a favorable impression. For a moment, Cecil’s finger hovered above the send button, as he read and reread his message a few last times. Then again, fate was already decided and Cecil was merely an actor playing it out. There was no use fussing. Cecil hit send and the message was beyond his grasp.

Only a moment passed, in which Cecil began packing his things to go to class, before Cecil’s phone gave a cheerful buzz, signaling the reply. Almost too eagerly, Cecil snatched his phone from the table to read the immortal words.

_“You too! Does tomorrow at 6:00 pm work?”_

Before he could overthink this one, Cecil decided to send back a simple “Yes.” Again, he waited only a few seconds before there was another response.

_“Excellent! See you then. :D”_

Carlos had added his own smile face to the text, and despite it being a simple combination of two symbols it made Cecil feel all bubbly and overheated inside.

 

* * *

 

What a rush! Carlos’s hands had still felt slightly sweaty as he’d closed the door to the coffee shop behind him. He had previously noticed that mysterious fellow who made those incredibly imaginative science videos in that shop before. The first time had been mere coincidence; Carlos had been rushing to class and needed desperately some coffee, and had been forced to turn into the infamously terrible little campus shop that was on his way. There, he had seen the very man he had spent so long admiring, sitting in the corner studying his notes. Carlos had debated saying something, even the smallest hello, but had been entirely unable to work up the nerve. Later, he could not help himself from revisiting that coffee shop every week around that time, and Cecil had never failed to be there. And Carlos had always failed to approach him.

That is, until the… incident. What a fool he must have made of himself, spilling coffee all over Cecil by way of greeting! But Cecil had been understanding enough, and he may even have blushed a little, although that could have been Carlos’s imagination. Must have been. Still, somehow the words to ask if they could meet up for real had made their way out of Carlos’s mouth, and now they had a date. Well, almost a date.

An almost date which was in twenty minutes, and Carlos had still not picked out what he was going to wear. He wanted to look sophisticated, but not overly formal. Even though it wasn’t a date, this felt like a very difficult decision.

_Honestly, I can recite the entire periodic table from memory, and I can’t even coordinate a couple of pieces of clothing together?_

Finally, as twenty minutes melted into ten, Carlos was forced to go in what he was wearing at the time, a plaid button-down with dark blue-jeans. It would simply have to do. And Cecil probably had not even been silly enough to care about such trivial matters as clothing when his mind could conjure such intriguing possibilities. Not that Carlos thought about Cecil not wearing clothing. Definitely not.

By the time Carlos had exited his dorm, he had to set a brisk walking pace to get to the café on time. He clutched his satchel to his chest with a slight shiver at the temperature, which had decreased significantly from how it had been just that afternoon. Making oneself compact helps conserve body heat.

He approached the building, and without giving himself time to hesitate, he pushed open the door with a jingle and strode inside. Already there at his usual table was Cecil, looking handsome and cool as usual. His hair, Carlos noticed, which had been a lovely shade of midnight blue just the previous day, was now a lavish, warm purple. Cecil often seemed to dye his hair a different color, and Carlos loved always getting to see something new. Also, right in the center of his forehead, Cecil had a tattoo of a purple eye, similar to the one printed on that notebook he always had with him. No matter how many times he saw it, that tattoo always managed to catch Carlos’s attention.

Cecil’s head had whipped up when he heard the bell jingle, and his dark eyes met Carlos’s.

Carlos felt himself break out into a grin as he approached and sat down across from Cecil, whose eyes followed him the whole way. “Hello again! I saw your latest video last night. It was excellent, I loved your theorizing.”

“Thank you! I realized it had to be a dolphin as they are more intelligent than humans, and while writing my paper I noticed the undoubtedly malicious intention that must have been behind the creation of the essay.” Cecil’s voice flowed smooth and low, just as relaxing in person as it was in his videos. Carlos smiled.

“So inspiration just strikes you? You know, you would probably make a very good scientist, with such an inquisitive nature.” Carlos leaned his chin on his hand.

“You think? Well, I personally do have a love for reporting and journalism, and besides I doubt most science teachers can be trusted. Not that any teachers can be trusted. Teaching is a form of mind control.”

“Really?” Carlos asked, interested. “How so?”

“Well, it’s all about trying to change the way you think, and students always listen. It is simply voluntary mind control.”

“Ah, I had never thought of it like that… it is true though, that the brain processes information and often does not think to question…”

They continued to discuss various content of Cecil’s videos and simply his mind, and Carlos discovered that Cecil was even more incredible and unlimited by reality as he had seemed from his YouTube channel. What Carlos also discovered, however, was that Cecil was an avid fan of Harry Potter and several television shows, and practically glowed while talking about them. With his calm, lovely voice, and his underlying enthusiasm, Carlos began to appreciate just how adorable Cecil could be. And what was more, the more time Carlos spent in his company, the more he was sure that Cecil must feel some of the same way toward Carlos. That blush simply could not be all Carlos’s imagination, and even with their very differing points of view, Cecil always hung on his every word.

“And of course Hogwarts cannot exist in this universe as it would be against the statute of secrecy to write novels explaining the events that occurred, but in a different universe that leaked over into this one, I am sure that there must be a wizarding world. That sheer amount of detail, I think we can all agree, cannot have simply come from one person’s mind. It is the same situation with the Lord of the Rings.”

“Yes, I see your point. And the multiverse theory has never been disproven!” At this moment Carlos’s phone buzzed, notifying an email and displaying the time. Was it ten already? And Carlos had a fair amount of work to get done before tomorrow. How he wished he could stay longer! “How has the time gone so quickly? I am afraid I must leave, I have a lot to get done.” Carlos glanced back up in time to see a flash of disappointment across Cecil’s face. “Until next time, then?”

“Ah, yes. Until next time.” Cecil nodded and smiled, and he looked so beautiful in that moment that despite his own racing heart, Carlos simply could not let it end there.

“Perhaps I may accompany you back to your dorm? It is a little late to be walking around alone.” It was an excuse and Carlos knew it, but there was a little truth to it, though Cecil was a firmly built man that was probably perfectly capable of handling himself. Still, his personality seemed so precious it almost felt natural to worry.

“Oh! Alright, good idea.” Cecil said, and Carlos did not miss the slight over-eagerness to his words. A little burst of confidence lit in Carlos’s chest.

“Excellent! Shall we?”

They both stood and Carlos let Cecil lead the way out of the little shop. Carlos knew what he wanted to do, or ask, rather. The problem was how to go about asking it. Simply put, Carlos had never met anyone quite like Cecil, and everything about the man intrigued him. Carlos wanted their next outing to be a date. Or even to count this one as a date. But how did one ask someone as incredible as Cecil to go on something as ordinary as a date?

For the first part of their walk, they both remained in a comfortable silence, as Carlos was frantically coming up with different ways to ask Cecil out and Cecil seemed to be in his own little world. Finally, Cecil spoke up.

“Look there, there are lights above the Arby’s. I am sure they must be invaders from another world.” Carlos followed Cecil’s gaze and, sure enough, above the small campus Arby’s building it looked like some kind of light show in the sky. Even with all of Carlos’s knowledge of science and the Earth and Space science course he had taken, Carlos could not be sure exactly what astronomical event was taking place.

They had both stopped to watch the lights above the Arby’s, and various combinations of star and lamplight were playing across Cecil’s face and vibrant purple hair.

“Cecil?” Carlos said, his soft voice drifting out more reverently than he had intended.

“Yes?” Cecil’s eyes turned back to lock on to Carlos’s face.

“May I kiss you?” It hadn’t been what Carlos had intended to say. He could feel warmth fill his own face, but he was not going to take it back. For a moment the only response Cecil gave was a widening of his eyes, and Carlos very nearly panicked. But then, Cecil slowly nodded.

Carlos closed the distance slowly, taking the time to savor the moment in all of its perfection as their lips met. He closed his eyes.

It was short and sweet. As they parted, Carlos gazed at Cecil for a second or two, and then nearly at the same time, both their eyes were drawn back to the lights. And in that moment, Carlos understood the lights above the Arby’s.

 


End file.
